Air heating door on a fireplace



Feb. 13, 1968 H.- R. IBBITSON 3,368,545

AIR HEATING DOOR ON A FIREPLACE Filed May 5, 1965 United States Patent3,368,545 AIR HEATING DOOR ON A FIREPLACE Harold R. Ibbitson, 123Phillips St., Hanson, Mass. 02341 Filed May 5, 1965, Ser. No. 453,289 1Claim. (Cl. 126-121) This invention relates to heating apparatus for afire place.

One object of my invention is to make more efficient use of the heatgenerated by a fireplace fire by transferring heat from the fireplaceinto the room.

Another object is to provide for this transfer of heat by means of aheating member at the front of the fireplace that will induce thecirculation of air therethrough as it is heated by the fireplace fire.

Still another object is to provide a draft control member below the mainair passage in the heating member, rearwardly of which is an airdiverter to divert some draft air into contact with the heating memberback, and also divert some to the fireplace combustion chamber.

A further object is to provide such apparatus that can readily be usedwith a fireplace already built.

A still further object is to provide such apparatus that is relativelysimple to construct, install and remove, as well as to clean.

The foregoing and other objects which will appear as the nature of theinvention is better understood may be accomplished by a construction,combination and arrangement such as is disclosed by the drawing. Thenature of the invention is such as to render it susceptible to variouschanges and modifications, and therefore, I am not to be limited to theconstruction disclosed by the drawing, nor to the particular partsdescribed in the specification; but am entitled to all such changestherefrom as fall within the scope of my claim.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of my heating apparatus combined witha fireplace, the latter being shown broken away.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, top plan view showing a draft member connected toa deflector.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, sectional view showing a heating member front inclosed position.

As illustrated, my heating apparatus for a fireplace has a heatingmember shown as two members 10 and 12, although if a fireplace isrelatively small only one heating member need be provided. Said heatingmember 10 has a left side 14, a right side 16 and a back 18. The latterextends angularly forward at the top and bottom as shown by the upperand lower curved portions 18a and 18b respectively, and reaches thefront of the fireplace as shown in said FIG. 4. Said back is spaced froma front 28, later described, to thereby provide a duct or air passage 20for air to be heated as it flows in front of a fire in the usualfireplace. Said sides 14 and 16 are attached to said back 18 and saidfront 28, and may be made of metal.

Said back 18 extends into the usual fireplace chamber and to keep it inpredetermined position it has an upper stop member 22 that bears againstthe usual outer surface of a fireplace structure 24 having a flue 25. Italso has a lower stop member 26 that bears against a draft member frontplate 56 later referred to. These stop members 22 and 26 keep theheating members 10 and 12 in the desired position in relation to thefireplace.

Patented Feb. 13, 1968 Said heating member 10 has a front 28 shown as adoor and which is lesser in height than said back 18 and is spaced fromthe top and bottom thereof, thus leaving an air inlet space I at thebottom and an air outlet space 0 at the top through which spaces airfrom a room enters and leaves said passage 20.

When said front 28 is formed as a door, which is desirable, but notnecessary, it has a knob 30 attached to a latch 32 that may enter a slot34 in said side 16 to unite the front 28 with said latter side wherebysaid heating member 10 may be moved as a unit, as shown in said FIG. 3.

Said heating member 12 is formed similarly to member 10. It has a leftside 36, a right side 38, and a back 40 forwardly of which is a passage42 for air similar to pass-age 20. Said back 40 has an upper stop member44 and a lower stop member 45 which serve similar purposes as stopmembers 22 and 26. It also has a front 46 similar to front 28 with aknob 48 connected to a latch 50 that can enter a slot 52 in said side 36to move said heating member 12 as a unit.

A draft member has a front plate 56 having air draft holes 58therethrough and a slot 60. A draft slide 62 has slots 64 therethroughand the usual holes to register with holes 58 when slid to openposition. A knob 66 extends through said slot 64 and is attached to saidslide 62 to control movement of the latter. As shown, said back 18 isspaced from the bottom of said fireplace to provide a space for saiddraft member front plate 56.

Below said back 18 and extending into the lower portion of the usualfireplace combustion chamber is a deflector 70 having a curved upper.guide 72 approximately parallel with and inwardly of the adjacent curvein said back 18. This provides a short passage to direct incoming airagainst the inner or rear surface of said back to thus preventaccumulation thereon of ashes or debris from smoke. Said deflector 70also has a lower guide 74 to direct incoming air to the combustionchamber farther rearwardly of said back.

Studs 76 extend through said draft member 56, draft slide 62 and saiddeflector 70 to which they are attached, thus mounting these memberstogether. Washers 78 bear against the rear of said slide 76 being heldin position by cotter pins 80. A nut 82 bears on the inner surface ofsaid deflector 70 and another nut 84 bears on the outer surface thereof.

A main hinge 86, such as the piano hinge type, is attached to said outerstructure 24. It has an intermediate portion 88 hingedly connecting tosaid front 28 so it can be opened separately from the remainder of saidchamber 10 as shown in said FIG. 2. Another hinge portion 90 thereof isattached to said chamber side 14 to thus permit said heating member 10to be swung open, including said front 28, as shown in said FIG. 3.

Another main hinge 92, similar to hinge 86, is attached to said outerstructure 24. An intermediate portion 94 hingedly connects said front46, and another hinge portion 96 hingedly connects to said chamber side38, thus serving purposes the same as said hinge portions 88 and 90 Saidhinges 86 and 92 permit said heating members 10 and 12 to be swung outof the way when wood or other fuel is applied to the fireplacecombustion chamber. When either or both of said latches 32 and 50 areremoved from said slots 50 and 52 respectively, the interior of saidmembers 10 and 12 may be cleaned upon swinging said fronts 28 and 46respectively to open position.

What I claim is:

1. Heating apparatus in combination with a fireplace, said apparatuscomprising a heating member having a back extending into the interior ofsaid fireplace, a front spaced forwardly from said back to therebyprovide an air passage, means connecting said back and front, said frontbeing spaced at its lower and upper extremities from the bottom and topof said back to thereby provide an inlet and an outlet respectively forsaid passage, the lower extremity of said back being spaced from thebottom of the fireplace, a draft member extending into the latter spacehaving holes therethrough to permit passage of air to the fireplacechamber, and a deflector in said latter space inwardly of said draftmember having an upper guide extending rearwardly into the fireplacechamber and a lower guide extending rearwardly into the fireplacechamber and spaced below said upper guide.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,377,108 5/1921 Williams126--121 2,707,946 5/1955 Merryweather et al. 126140 2,747,568 5/1956Dupler 12612l FOREIGN PATENTS 167,876 8/1921 Great Britain.

OTHER REFERENCES German printed application 1,125,109, March 1962.

FREDERICK KETTERER, Primary Examiner.

1. HEATING APPARATUS IN COMBINATIJON WITH A FIREPLACE, SAID APPARATUSCOMPRISING A HEATING MEMBER HAVING A BACK EXTENDING INTO THE INTERIOR OFSAID FIREPLACE, A FRONT SPACED FORWARDLY FROM SAID BACK TO THEREBYPROVIDE AN AIR PASSAGE, MEANS CONNECTING SAID BACK AND FRONT, SAID FRONTBEING SPACED AT ITS LOWER AND UPPER EXTREMITIES FROM THE BOTTOM AND TOPOF SAID BACK TO THEREBY PROVIDE AN INLET AND AN OUTLET RESPECTIVELY FORSAID PASSAGE, THE LOWER EXTREMITY OF SAID BACK BEING SPACED FROM THEBOTTOM OF THE FIREPLACE, A DRAFT MEMBER EXTENDING INTO THE LATTER SPACEHAVING HOLES THERETHROUGH TO PERMIT PASSAGE OF AIR